Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/148565
Title: 

Welfare stigma in the lab: Evidence of social signaling

The document was removed on behalf of the author(s)/ the editor(s).

Year of Publication: 
2016
Series/Report no.: 
WZB Discussion Paper No. SP II 2016-208
Publisher: 
Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB), Berlin
Abstract: 
A puzzle of the modern welfare state is that a large fraction of social benefits is not taken up. Using a laboratory experiment, we present evidence that stigmatization through public exposure causally reduces the take-up of a redistributive transfer by 30 percentage points. We build a theoretical model that interprets welfare stigma as unfavorable inferences about the claimant's type. Our design exogenously varies the informativeness of the takeup decision by varying whether transfer eligibility is based on ability or luck. We find that subjects avoid the inference both of being low-skilled and of being willing to live off others. Contrary to conventional wisdom, stigma may thus also contribute to low take-up if eligibility is not linked to economic performance.
Subjects: 
stigma
signaling
redistribution
non take-up
welfare program
JEL: 
D03
H31
I38
C91
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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The document was removed on behalf of the author(s)/ the editor(s) on: August 9, 2018


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